The ASO and the Comprehensive Assessment and Planning Systems (CAPS) Project
Introduction
Currently, the Bureau for Families and Children of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources in collaboration with the private sector is operating the Comprehensive Assessment and Planning Systems (CAPS) Project on a limited basis. It has now been decided to expand CAPS statewide.
The Bureau has selected APS Healthcare which is an Administrative Services Organization (ASO) to oversee the enrollment of providers interested in participating in the CAPS Project.
What is CAPS? The CAPS project is a systematic approach to the assessment of those children and their families who are receiving child welfare services from the Department. Currently, the CAPS population is limited to children and families receiving Youth Services. When revisions to the Child Protective Services decision making process are completed CAPS will be extended to that program.
The goal of CAPS is to assist Department staff to meet the federal outcomes for safety, permanency and well-being for children by assuring that children and families receive a comprehensive assessment that results in the development of a thorough and appropriate treatment plan.
How Will the CAPS Assessment Process be Authorized? Authorization to provide services under CAPS is obtained from the ASO. Authorization is dependent on the provider meeting the qualifications to deliver the service, the submittal of all required information to the ASO and the prior approval by the ASO for the delivery of the services. The ASO will offer training and technical assistance on the authorization process to all providers who desire to deliver services under CAPS.
Enrollment to Become a Provider: Any individual or agency which meets the qualifications may enroll to become a provider for CAPS. The service descriptions and the provider qualifications associated with CAPS are contained in the Utilization Management (UM) Guidelines for Socially Necessary Services.
Enrollment is an open ended process. By that it is meant that a provider who chooses not to enroll initially with the ASO can choose to do so at a later date. It also means that a provider is not limited to the geographic area for which they originally registered. For example: a provider can decide at any time to expand their service delivery into additional counties.
Any geographical change will require the submittal of additional information to the ASO and the Department. The Department and the ASO will jointly decide upon approval of expanded service delivery.
The Enrollment Process: The enrollment forms and instructions, the matrix of services and the catalogue of services including provider qualifications can be located on this web page.
Note: In order to simplify the enrollment process the same form may be used to enroll as both a Socially Necessary Services provider and a CAPS provider.
Training: Once a provider has completed and submitted the enrollment forms, they will need to contact APS Health Care to receive training on how to use the authorization process. The web site for APS Health Care is www.apshealthcare.com.
Questions: All questions should be sent to ASOsupport@wvdhhr.org .
